A Brief History of K18 Fanfics Part 3 (Final)
Thanks for reading Part 2 and I hope you all found some enjoyable stories out of the list. I’ll be covering the contemporaries (2020s) this time but just like the previous list, I’ve included a few authors missing.
2nd Generation K18 Writers (Late 2000s to mid 2010s) Continued
While IncognitoMan1-2-3-4 has only written one K18 series: “A Perfect Love”, it was a really well written series of short stories, with some written in 3rd person perspective while the last two chapters were from Krillin and 18’s perspective respectively. All in all some solid K18 stories that won’t leave anyone disappointed.
Shepherds-Glen, aka Alison is more of a DBZ generalist than K18 specialist. Nevertheless, her K18 stories story: “The Reluctant Mother To Be” is definitely worth a read with the sheer amount of love shared between our favorite couple. How K18 reacted to the news of Marron’s conception was cute to say the least too. This being said, it’s a shame this author, like some others, tend to leave her stories unfinished, so do expected some cozy first few chapters but ultimately no resolution to the story.
Kanthia has written a lot of DBZ stories and amongst them there’s only 1 K18 story and yet that alone is enough to put her on this list. “I Fell in Love with a Black Hole” is a very realistic take on how 18 would’ve behaved right after Cell Games, leading her to eventually seek out Krillin. I won’t go into much detail, as this is a fairly short piece but the writing and characterization more than made up for it. Do give this author a chance especially if you are into more realistic, non-fluff depiction of 18.
Another DBZ generalist who has only written one K18 story. This being said, his masterpiece: “Counterfeit Emotions” is an incredibly detailed and in-depth take on 18’s cyborg psychology and, excuse me for saying this, but one of the best depiction of 18’s mentality there is. If you don’t mind something a bit more real and angsty, LPphreek’s story is a great read both for his character depiction but also for his craft.
Gemini30 (English version by BadMonster-Fr)
BadMonster-Fr is a French author who has written quite a number of stories in French. One of her stories on FF.net, titled: “Love’s Not Away” is a translated version of one written by Gemini30. This is a very sweet and complete K18 get together story. Do give this lovely work a try, all chapters are fast reads, making them good relaxing short reads after work. Oh, did I mention she finished this series, yes, there’s a satisfying ending at the end too.
Draquia has written only 1 DBZ story, and that just happened to be “Lovefools Part 1”, a great story portraying 18 trying to save her brother with the help of Krillin. The story has been completed with satisfying ending too and at 78k, this short novel should keep any K18 lover occupied with its engaging and unconventional plotline.
Contemporary K18 Writers (2020s)
By the 2020s, most fanfic authors have already learned all there is to learn about writing structure and format and stories are getting increasingly longer, with many works akin to short novels. All of the 2020s authors I’ll introduce here have written some full and completed master pieces, starting with attention grabbing intros and ending with plot-wrapping conclusions. Needless to say, the development in writing style is thanks to earlier works, as it is simply impossible for a community to progress to this point without prior examples.
One of the most well established K18 lemon author there is, Benisadog1 has written just about every single imaginable steamy encounter between our favorite couple, with the scenarios ranging from their honeymoon to AUs and even an unlikely adventure they shared with Future 18. Of the three stories he has written so far, “K18 Movie Dates” is a hilarious depiction of K18 getting sidetracked while watching movie, “The Punk and the Geek” is an ongoing AU where punk 18 met office nerd Krillin, and “Krillin and 18 Lemon Anthology Series” a close contender to the best compilation of K18 steamy short stories.
One thing that sets Benisadog1 apart from other lemon authors is the inclusion of decently developed plot that connected the lemon with actual stories, making his work all the more enjoyable to read. On a side note, his chapters tend to be on the longer side and require some time to read through. Rest assured though, this lemon master’s works will not disappoint.
An incredibly detail and plot oriented author, Literal Winter’s stories all involve very carefully crafted plots and engaging twists and turns that, despite their creativity, still matches the tone of DBZ. While not all of his stories are strictly K18, all of them more than gave this couple the time and respect they deserved and can be viewed as having the K18 side plot within the overarching story. I will give each one of his stories a brief summary below, seeing that I’ve personally read and reviewed all his works so bear with me.
“Facing the Future”, his very first work is a very engaging story of how 17 and 18 went to retrieve cure for a sick Krillin from the future timeline and the collaboration they shared with Future Trunks. While Krillin isn’t featured in the majority of this story, he is definitely involved as it is 18’s love for him that drove the cyborg woman forward.
“Twin Paths” offered a very plausible of why the future androids differ so much from their present counterparts and is totally worth a read.
“Vengeance Granted” portrayed another possible storyline that replaced Resurrection F. Here, the Z-fighters (including K18) had to fight a Frieza who has done something to their beloved dragon balls. While the premise may not be attractive to everyone, I argue this is one of his most creative pieces yet.
He has also written “Our Past Together”, a heart-warming non-action K18 one shot.
Last but not least, his still ongoing work: “Dragon Ball Z: New Future” attempted at describing how post Goku Black Trunks would’ve tried reshaping the DBZ timeline starting from pre-Android saga.
Do give his stories a read, this author has a habit of completing his stories and if you love action oriented DBZ stories with heavy K18 involvement, Literal Winter will not disappoint. Just heads up that he is a Vegeta fan and for those K18 fans disliking Vegeta (I know there’s quite a lot in this community), his stories “Vengeance Granted” and “Facing the Future” may be too Vegeta heavy at times.
SuperSimpleStuff is of European origin and although English is her third language, she has written two very engaging K18 stories “That first Time, you and I” and “From birth to rebirth: the incomplete story of Androids 17 and 18”. The best way to describe SuperSimpleStuff’s writing, or SSS for short (she has given me consent to address her as SSS), is that they are very unconventional in both plot of writing structure but can be very engaging, even to the point of jaw-dropping if readers were willing to invest the time.
“That first Time, you and I” for example, is a very well written K18 lemon that focused more on the couple’s psychology while engaging in the act of passion. It might just be me, but rarely do female authors write lemon and when they do, it’s very different than ones written by male authors. SSS is no exception as it’s possible to read from her words the tenderness of K18 in the act.
“From birth to rebirth” is a 17 and 18 story that features a lot of Krillin in some chapters. This story really sets itself apart from other DBZ stories with the amount of OCs in it. In a sense, SSS has crafted a standalone world for 17 and 18 populated with all the characters the twins have come across in their life. While this story is currently on hold (stopped right before Buu saga), the existing 50 chapters more than covered the cyborg twins’ journey sufficiently and detailed their growth throughout the years.
I may be a bit biased with the amount of communication I have with SSS, but do give her stories a try. If you can enjoy the dozens of OCs all with colorful personalities and their interactions with 17, 18, and Krillin, her story can mesmerize you since in her world, 17 and 18 always take center stage unlike DBZ.
After some debates, I have decided to include myself on this list of contemporaries. Although I shouldn’t evaluate my own work, if you love K18, do give my stories a read. I try to do this lovely couple justice.
This last post concluded my little write up of K18 fanfic history. It is by no means complete as I am aware many stories, especially those hosted in long-since-deleted DBZ shrines may never see the light of day again. I do hope to bring attention to the many wonderful stories written of this lovely couple though, and if possible, to document this shared bond we’ve all experienced.
Feel free to use this list as an example to compile your own list or better yet, become K18 writers if you haven’t already. It goes without saying that the number of people writing K18 is in sharp decline now that Dragon Ball Super anime has ended and the DBS manga hardly contained any traces of K18.
While this is not a call to action for writers, let me just say that it is never too early or late to get into the fandom as an author. You’d be surprised at the amount of K18 fans still out there eager for good reads.